I've put together a package containing drivers and important updates for using with MS-DOS, Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11 within VMware products.

I call this collection the "31pack" (pronounced "three-one pack").

The current version is 1.1. The following changes were made from the initial release:

An older DOSidle version 2.0 was added for the cases where the version 2.10 conflicts with EMM386.

MSCDEX was added for scenarios where it is not installed as part of MS-DOS.

The 31pack is available as a simple set of files or as an ISO image, ready for mounting in a virtual machine. Enclosed in the ISO image download is also a floppy disk image that contains only the CD-ROM driver and MSCDEX.

To install the software, either copy all files into an INSTALL directory within the virtual machine, such as C:\INSTALL, or mount the provided ISO image.

Below I'll outline the steps to install each component, along with the systems that the driver or update applies to.

Networking

[X] DOS
[X] Win 3.1
[ ] WFW 3.11

Microsoft Network Client 3.0 / Network card driver:

In DOS mode, change to the MSCLIENT directory and run SETUP.EXE.

As the adapter, select "*Network adapter not shown on list below" and enter C:\INSTALL\AMDPCNET\DOS as the driver directory to install the drivers for the "Advanced Micro Devices PCNET Family" adapter.

Configure other settings & protocols as you wish. There is a good step-by-step article at WindowsNetworking.com.

The TCP/IP protocol, which is vital for connecting to the Internet, is not installed by default. If you want to use it, you must explicitly select it during installation.

[ ] DOS
[X] Win 3.1
[ ] WFW 3.11

Activating the network in Windows 3.1:

In Windows, open Windows Setup and go to Options > Change System settings > Network

If you only want to use the TCP/IP protocol, you can remove the other protocols like IPX/SPX or NetBEUI. If you want to keep other protocols, you might want to set the TCP/IP protocol as the default protocol.

CD-ROM

[X] DOS
[X] Win 3.1
[X] WFW 3.11

CD-ROM driver:

In DOS mode, go into the CDROM directory and run INSTALL.EXE. You should use the "Easy Install" option unless you have problems.

MSCDEX:

The installer of the CD-ROM driver sets up MSCDEX to launch automatically in AUTOEXEC.BAT.

MS-DOS 6.0 and higher include MSCDEX. On these systems there is nothing more to do.

For scenarios where MSCDEX is not installed as part of MS-DOS, copy MSCDEX.EXE from the MSCDEX directory into C:\DOS.

Sound

[X] DOS
[X] Win 3.1
[X] WFW 3.11

Sound driver:

The included drivers are for DOS and Windows.

You may have to change a setting in the virtual machine config file first, to get the SB16. This is because some VMware products supply a different type of sound card per default. Power off the VM, open the configuration file (.vmx) in an editor, find the line starting with "sound.virtualDev" and change it to sound.virtualDev = "sb16". If the line is not present, just add it. After the change power on the VM again.

In DOS mode, go to the SB16 directory and run INSTALL.EXE. You should accept the defaults unless you have problems.

Display

[ ] DOS
[ ] Win 3.1
[X] WFW 3.11

Super VGA driver patch:

This is a patch Ken Kato wrote to make Super VGA work under WFW 3.11 in a VMware environment. It might also work for Win 3.1, but I did not test that.
Note: The web site linked to is no longer active. It has possibly moved to this page.

The patch files are in the VGAPATCH directory, be sure to read the included documentation.

MS-DOS does not idle the CPU when there's nothing to do. This does not affect the operating system, but when running in virtualized environments, it takes up all the processor power on the host.

In DOS mode, start DOSIDLE.EXE from the DOSIDLE\V0210 directory to activate CPU idling.

Put it into your AUTOEXEC.BAT to start it automatically when booting.

Alternative 1: DOSidle 2.0

The DOSidle version 2.10 can conflict with EMM386 (at least in MS-DOS 7.1):

You started your computer with a version of MS-DOS
incompatible with this version of Windows. Insert a Startup diskette matching
this version of Windows and then restart. The system has been halted. Press
CTRL+ALT+DELETE to restart your computer.

If you get the above error, you can use the older DOSidle version 2.0 instead, which does not have this problem. It is in the DOSIDLE\V0200 directory.

Alternative 2: Microsoft Power Manager (POWER)

Use this if you cannot use DOSidle for any reason.

In MS-DOS 6.0 and higher, POWER is part of the operating system.

To install POWER with maximum power saving, add the following line to the CONFIG.SYS file:

DEVICE=C:\DOS\POWER.EXE ADV:MAX

and reboot the system.

[ ] DOS
[X] Win 3.1
[X] WFW 3.11

WQGHLT tool:

Windows 3.x does not idle the CPU when there's nothing to do. This does not affect the operating system, but when running in virtualized environments, it takes up all the processor power on the host.

To install WQGHLT, copy WQGHLT.386 from the WQGHLT directory to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM, add a line to
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI's [386Enh] section, like this:

[386Enh]
...
device=WQGHLT.386

and restart Windows.

Operating System Updates

[ ] DOS
[ ] Win 3.1
[X] WFW 3.11

Y2K Update for File Manager:

The File Manager shows wrong dates for files changed in or after the year 2000. To fix this, go to the WFWY2KUP directory in DOS mode and run INSTALL.BAT with the name of your Windows directory as parameter, for example "INSTALL C:\WINDOWS".

The update in the WFWY2KUP directory is for english Windows versions. If you have a german Windows version, you can use the update in the WFWY2KDE directory instead.

[ ] DOS
[X] Win 3.1
[X] WFW 3.11

Euro support:

This updates the keyboard drivers and fonts to include the Euro (€) symbol.

In DOS mode, go into EURO_DEU directory and run W31_EURO.BAT with the name of your Windows directory as parameter, for example "W31_EURO C:\WINDOWS". Note that this install batch is german.

The last output of that script should read "Fertig", meaning "Done".

Then copy the additional Euro fonts from the EUROFONT directory to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.

(Article) Logging on to a Windows Server 2003 domain from older DOS/Windows systems

If you have an MS-DOS or older Windows system running (Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98/ME or below), logon attempts from such versions to a Windows Server 2003 domain fail out of the box because Windows Server 2003 domain controllers have communication signing (SMB signing) enabled by default and the old systems do not support it. SMB signing was introduced to prevent malicious users from tampering or intercepting network traffic.

If you need a quick-and-dirty solution for compatibility reasons, simply turn of SMB signing at the domain controller - see below for how to do this. For more details about this issue and ways to resolve it, see Microsoft's KB entries 811497 and 555038.

On the right, find "Microsoft network server: Digitally sign communications (always)" and set it to Disabled or remove the check mark in front of "Define this policy setting"

(Article) Finding the right virtual sound card and driver for your guest operating system

The default sound card emulated in VMware Workstation depends on the program version and the guest operating system:

Program

Guest OS1

Sound Card Name

VMware Workstation 8.x and higher

Windows Vista and higher

High Definition Audio

VMware Workstation 8.x and higher

Windows XP and lower

Sound Blaster AudioPCI2

VMware Workstation 7.x and lower

All Windows versions

Sound Blaster AudioPCI2

VMware Workstation 10.x and higher3

MS-DOS or Windows 3.1

Sound Blaster 16

1For simplicity, the appropriate server versions of Windows were omitted, it applies to them as well.2May be labeled differently in the guest OS depending on the driver used, e.g. Sound Blaster PCI 128.3And maybe also in some lower versions, this was not tested.

By modifying the machine configuration file (VMX file), the card can also be changed to a different one that may be more appropriate than the default.

The following table shows which drivers to use for for Windows and DOS operating systems:

The wavesets are optional since a 2 MB waveset is already included with the driver. Using a larger waveset means better MIDI sound quality, but requires more memory. Use the Device Manager to add new wavesets (*.ecw) to the "SB PCI(WDM)" driver.

Beginning with VMware Workstation 6.0, installing this driver causes new Windows 95 and 98 VMs to crash (blue screen) at driver installation. Additionally, Windows 95 VMs where the crash occurred become unbootable and the operating system halts with a Windows Protection Error. Windows 95 and 98 VMs that have been created with previous Workstation versions that have this driver installed crash after upgrading the virtual hardware to Workstation 6.0 or higher.

Workarounds:

For new Windows 95 VMs, use Workstation 5 hardware or a SB16 sound card.

For new Windows 98 (first edition) VMs use a SB16 sound card.

For new Windows 98 SE VMs, use the WDM driver instead of this driver, it does not have this issue.

1The entry is only for selecting the sound card device, not to add a new virtual sound card. It might not be present if the default emulated sound card is in use.2Some of the systems might already include the necessary drivers and in this case no separate driver needs to be installed.

(Article) Playing games in virtual machines

I also like playing games, not only current ones, but also older games. The following is a list of operating systems that can or cannot be used for playing games in a virtual machine.

This list is specific to VMware Workstation and is solely based on my own opinion.

I only tried small games and no VMware Tools are available, so it may not work for more demanding games.

Windows 95

Yes

Looks ok.

Windows 98

Yes

Looks ok.

Windows ME

Yes

Looks ok.

Windows 2000

Maybe

May work if games don't require graphics hardware features (T&L, shaders, etc.).

Windows XP

Maybe

VMware Workstation 6.5 includes DirectX 9.0c support for Windows XP. You need a decent machine to make this work.

Windows Vista

Maybe

May work if games don't require graphics hardware features (T&L, shaders, etc.).

Experiences with the new Direct3D Support in VMware Workstation 6.5

When I tried out this feature the first time, I set all graphics settings in the games to minimum. It was still too slow for me, not fluid enough. Either my machine was too old for this or there is some improvent potential on VMware's side. On the host, I was able to play all the games in high quality without noticeable problems.

The first lesson I learned, was that upgrading to the Workstation 6.5 hardware version is absolutely necessary, to get something useful regarding 3D performance. Done that, the performance was still unsatisfying. In the end, it turned out that my host machine was underpowered for this task (Intel P4 "Prescott" @ 3 GHz with an ATI Radeon X800 GT).

So a decent machine is required, even for older games. I upgraded the host's hardware and it became better (Intel Core2Duo @ 3,16 GHz with an ATI Radeon HD 3850).

Added the information that the SB16 sound card can also be used in Windows 95 and 98 (thanks to ClassicGameVault and Thomas Aitken).

Added the information that in VMware Workstation 10 (and maybe in some earlier versions), creating a new MS-DOS or Windows 3.1 VM sets the SB16 sound card as the default (thanks to Kristian Whittick).

Added a sound driver for Windows NT 4.0.

Updated all driver download links to adapt to the changed structure on the Creative web site.

Added information about the HD Audio sound card.

Added information about default sound cards in VMware Workstation depending on the program version and guest operating system.

Added information about features in VMware Workstation that are similar to what VMRemote provides.

September 24, 2011:

The 31pack is now also available as an ISO image, ready for mounting in a virtual machine. Enclosed in the ISO image download is also a floppy disk image that contains only the CD-ROM driver.

Changed links to Ken Kato's original "VM Back" web site, which is long gone, to a new address, which looks like a replacement for the old site. I'm not 100% sure though whether this isn't just one more of the unofficial mirrors that exist.

May 21, 2011:

Added a clarification that the 31pack replaces the older DOS / Win 3.1 and WFW 3.11 driver packages. Re-added also the old anchors for other web pages that still link to the old drivers.